Author Topic: 48000000 images (Read 34063 times)

Semmick Photo · « **on:** February 10, 2015, 08:23 »

I joined Shutterstock March 2012 and they had 23.000.000 images. 23 million !

Shutterstock was founded in 2003, it took them 9 years to get 23 million images. Its 2015, and now they have 48.000.000 images !! They more than doubled the library in exactly 3 years.

At their current rate, they will be reaching 100,000,000 images in 2.5 years, around July 2017.

Seriously W.T.F.

bunhill · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2015, 08:35 »

744,917 sunset photos. I wonder whether the world has enough sunset pictures yet.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2015, 08:53 »

By March I believe it will be 50 million

Here, I posted this before, maybe it was lost or buried in some thread about sales dropping.

Shutterstock Milestones:

September 21, 2006 - Shutterstock surpasses one million stock photos
Feb. 20th, 2009 -Shutterstock reaches 6 million photos, (5 million 2.5 years)
February 14, 2010 - Shutterstock reaches 10 million Photos (4 million 12 months)
June 19, 2012 - Shutterstock reaches 20m stock Images (10 Million 28 months)
October 30, 2013 - Shutterstock reaches 30 million images (10 million 15 months)
Aug. 4, 2014 - Shutterstock celebrates 40 million images in it's collection. (10 million 10 months)
December 31, 2014 - 46.8 million images in the collection. (1 million new files per month)

In other words, every month, there are as many new images as there were total in 2006.

And people wonder why earnings are dropping? Hey, it's easy, one word: Competition!

Doesn't matter if you had the best darn Cheese burger photo on the planet in 2009, it's just not going to sell like it did back then. Cheese Burger = (24,488) And these aren't from people snapping with a P&S. Now they are dressed and positioned, shot in a studio, with expensive lighting and full frame cameras, top level lenses.

And people wonder why their sales aren't what they used to be?

Ariene · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:13 »

And that's why I dream about traveling in time with my private top secret vehicle! I would take my HD with images and just enjoy mass downloads that days... Old days gone, a lot has changed... unfortunately

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:18 »

They are adding around 1.700.000 images per month at the current rate.

Red Dove · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:18 »

I'm not impressed mate.

Instagram averages 70 million a day. Also, SS has 583,000 images of cats and dogs, 434,000 images of roses, 1.3 million images of pretty girls smiling but less than 10 images of the Duck Billed Platypus.

cobalt · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:29 »

Inspite of the volume a lot of content is still missing. I tried to find images of the local beer and i think only two pictures were apprpriate. Once you drill down to more speliazed and local stuff there are huge gaps in the collection.

Also many subjects need to be reshoot in regular intervals, think of all the business images with brick like mobile phones. Or business meetings with tablets instead of laptops, mobile fitness gadgets etc...

so there is still is hope for us if you don´t specialize in sunsets.

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:33 »

Quote from: cobalt on February 10, 2015, 09:29

Inspite of the volume a lot of content is still missing. I tried to find images of the local beer and i think only two pictures were apprpriate. Once you drill down to more speliazed and local stuff there are huge gaps in the collection.

Also many subjects need to be reshoot in regular intervals, think of all the business images with brick like mobile phones. Or business meetings with tablets instead of laptops, mobile fitness gadgets etc...

so there is still is hope for us if you don´t specialize in sunsets.

I am the only one with a particular photo of a certain structure in the SS library. Its not selling, even though its not an uncommon or rare place. There is a reason why there are gaps, some stuff has no demand.

Snow · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:34 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 10, 2015, 08:53

By March I believe it will be 50 million

Here, I posted this before, maybe it was lost or buried in some thread about sales dropping.

Shutterstock Milestones:

September 21, 2006 - Shutterstock surpasses one million stock photos
Feb. 20th, 2009 -Shutterstock reaches 6 million photos, (5 million 2.5 years)
February 14, 2010 - Shutterstock reaches 10 million Photos (4 million 12 months)
June 19, 2012 - Shutterstock reaches 20m stock Images (10 Million 28 months)
October 30, 2013 - Shutterstock reaches 30 million images (10 million 15 months)
Aug. 4, 2014 - Shutterstock celebrates 40 million images in it's collection. (10 million 10 months)
December 31, 2014 - 46.8 million images in the collection. (1 million new files per month)

In other words, every month, there are as many new images as there were total in 2006.

And people wonder why earnings are dropping? Hey, it's easy, one word: Competition!

Doesn't matter if you had the best darn Cheese burger photo on the planet in 2009, it's just not going to sell like it did back then. Cheese Burger = (24,488) And these aren't from people snapping with a P&S. Now they are dressed and positioned, shot in a studio, with expensive lighting and full frame cameras, top level lenses.

And people wonder why their sales aren't what they used to be?

It is not because of the quality of the competition, it is because of the quantity of the competition which are two different things.
I don't know about you but I still sell my first images from 4 years ago, those I applied with and on a regular basis and they are still amongst the most popular. It's the new files that get no exposure because they get lost in the pack. You make it sound as if we suddenly forgot how to shoot/create stock?
Lack of exposure is the issue here, not the lack of talent or gear.

Snow · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:38 »

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 10, 2015, 09:33

Quote from: cobalt on February 10, 2015, 09:29
Inspite of the volume a lot of content is still missing. I tried to find images of the local beer and i think only two pictures were apprpriate. Once you drill down to more speliazed and local stuff there are huge gaps in the collection.

Also many subjects need to be reshoot in regular intervals, think of all the business images with brick like mobile phones. Or business meetings with tablets instead of laptops, mobile fitness gadgets etc...

so there is still is hope for us if you don´t specialize in sunsets.

I am the only one with a particular photo of a certain structure in the SS library. Its not selling, even though its not an uncommon or rare place. There is a reason why there are gaps, some stuff has no demand.

EXACTLY!

That is what many do not understand. Those who praise doing unique content. There is either no demand for it or buyers think the library lacks that content and don't even bother searching for it.
Again, LACK OF EXPOSURE is the issue here!
What sells best, your most artistic or unique images or your plain (same old) content? I bet I already know the answer to that.

KnowYourOnions · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:41 »

Quote from: Snow on February 10, 2015, 09:34

Lack of exposure is the issue here, not the lack of talent or gear.

+10

ShadySue · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:43 »

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 10, 2015, 09:33

I am the only one with a particular photo of a certain structure in the SS library. Its not selling, even though its not an uncommon or rare place. There is a reason why there are gaps, some stuff has no demand.

But how could you know something wouldn't sell before you uploaded it?

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:46 »

Quote from: Snow on February 10, 2015, 09:38

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 10, 2015, 09:33
Quote from: cobalt on February 10, 2015, 09:29
Inspite of the volume a lot of content is still missing. I tried to find images of the local beer and i think only two pictures were apprpriate. Once you drill down to more speliazed and local stuff there are huge gaps in the collection.

Also many subjects need to be reshoot in regular intervals, think of all the business images with brick like mobile phones. Or business meetings with tablets instead of laptops, mobile fitness gadgets etc...

so there is still is hope for us if you don´t specialize in sunsets.

I am the only one with a particular photo of a certain structure in the SS library. Its not selling, even though its not an uncommon or rare place. There is a reason why there are gaps, some stuff has no demand.

EXACTLY!

That is what many do not understand. Those who praise doing unique content. There is either no demand for it or buyers think the library lacks that content and don't even bother searching for it.
Again, LACK OF EXPOSURE is the issue here!
What sells best, your most artistic or unique images or your plain (same old) content? I bet I already know the answer to that.

Sold 2 times

Sold 735 times

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2015, 09:50 »

Quote from: ShadySue on February 10, 2015, 09:43

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 10, 2015, 09:33
I am the only one with a particular photo of a certain structure in the SS library. Its not selling, even though its not an uncommon or rare place. There is a reason why there are gaps, some stuff has no demand.
But how could you know something wouldn't sell before you uploaded it?

I am sure you can find a photo of everything, a gap doesnt mean zero images, it means its not well covered. If I search for something and I find 3 photos, I get suspicious. Why are there only 3 images? The image I was talking about proved it. I searched the library and found zero images, I wondered why and thought my image would be downloaded by the bucket-loads. So I uploaded my image, waited in great anticipation for the flood of DLs, and nope. Sold 5 times or so.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2015, 10:01 »

It's the competition and the number of photos. I didn't write that it was all about gear. Read it again please.

There are 40 million new images, which by the way, are taken on newer cameras, better equipment and with better setups. You can try to discount that fact but it's real. I didn't say anyone had to use bigger equipment or have a studio... just that our competition does.

You drive your VW Jetta in a competition and someone else has an Audi Quatro. Tell me who has the advantage?

No Free Lunch · « **Reply #15 on:** February 10, 2015, 10:13 »

I wonder if someday, like GL stock, they will stop taking anymore images? How many images do you really need for the buyers? This does concern me about how rapid the libraries are growing.

Snow · « **Reply #16 on:** February 10, 2015, 10:15 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 10, 2015, 10:01

It's the competition and the number of photos. I didn't write that it was all about gear. Read it again please.

There are 40 million new images, which by the way, are taken on newer cameras, better equipment and with better setups. You can try to discount that fact but it's real. I didn't say anyone had to use bigger equipment or have a studio... just that our competition does.

You drive your VW Jetta in a competition and someone else has an Audi Quatro. Tell me who has the advantage?

Oh so an experienced contributor has ancient gear then? We don't upgrade?
New contributors either found the secret formula or have access to high tech gear we don't know about yet?
With all due respect but I think "speak for yourself" is the more appropriate thing for me to say to you then.

Red Dove · « **Reply #17 on:** February 10, 2015, 10:25 »

One can never have enough tomatoes 698,000, coffee beans 149,000 or Piles of Wood 54,000

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #18 on:** February 10, 2015, 10:28 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 10, 2015, 10:01

You drive your VW Jetta in a competition and someone else has an Audi Quatro. Tell me who has the advantage?

Depends on the competition, if its about mileage per gallon the VW might actually win it

Snow · « **Reply #19 on:** February 10, 2015, 10:44 »

Pete, if you upload a top seller cheese burger (lets assume it would be in normal circumstances) and the next minute there's a 100 more uploaded that drop your file to the bottom of the search (new) do you really think buyers will dig it out?
Same with unique content. If it holds well known keywords it will drop and never be seen again.
Lack of exposure is the cause of this, not lack of talent, gear, props, models, etc...
Not to mention search rotation or whatever they pull off these days to get their bottom line up and ours down.

Nikovsk · « **Reply #20 on:** February 10, 2015, 11:01 »

Collection number is exponential now, but eventually the growth will flatten out in %. When there are 100 million images, 1 million images per week is only 1% growth. It will never be as easy as in 2005 but if you can do well with your new images today, it means you can survive when the collection doubles. Talented new contributors will thrive as they have more realistic expectations, on the other hand it'll be hard for veterans to get used to more realistic returns. Specially true for those who live in expensive countries.

That said, many of the new images are similars. I saw a set from a guy with the very same icons but in different positions, and it occupied about 7-8 whole pages of the "new" search. That's not going to sell well at all, but the problem is that your good images are buried instantly. To have exposure, your images must rank on top of the search and money will flow into your account. That's getting harder, but at least the number of buyers is increasing as well.

BrianM · « **Reply #21 on:** February 10, 2015, 11:08 »

The rate of growth may level off, but growth is a given. What's everyone doing to pivot?

gbalex · « **Reply #22 on:** February 10, 2015, 11:38 »

Quote from: Snow on February 10, 2015, 10:15

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 10, 2015, 10:01
It's the competition and the number of photos. I didn't write that it was all about gear. Read it again please.

There are 40 million new images, which by the way, are taken on newer cameras, better equipment and with better setups. You can try to discount that fact but it's real. I didn't say anyone had to use bigger equipment or have a studio... just that our competition does.

You drive your VW Jetta in a competition and someone else has an Audi Quatro. Tell me who has the advantage?

Oh so an experienced contributor has ancient gear then? We don't upgrade?
New contributors either found the secret formula or have access to high tech gear we don't know about yet?

With all due respect but I think "speak for yourself" is the more appropriate thing for me to say to you then.

+1

Tryingmybest · « **Reply #23 on:** February 10, 2015, 12:11 »

Quote from: Red Dove on February 10, 2015, 10:25

One can never have enough tomatoes 698,000, coffee beans 149,000 or Piles of Wood 54,000

Sounds absurd, but it's very true according to my experiences. Cartoons of a pile of boulders and twig that I made in 2010 sell almost daily—sometimes more than once in a day. I've found that if you keep making better and better drawings/photos/video/audio, you'll keep up with the competition. Make sure you're enjoying doing it, however. Oh, and you don't need Adobe'$ Cloud or the latest hardware to be creative, by the way.

Rinderart · « **Reply #24 on:** February 10, 2015, 12:32 »

Quote from: Striving on February 10, 2015, 12:11

Quote from: Red Dove on February 10, 2015, 10:25
One can never have enough tomatoes 698,000, coffee beans 149,000 or Piles of Wood 54,000

Sounds absurd, but it's very true according to my experiences. Cartoons of a pile of boulders and twig that I made in 2010 sell almost daily—sometimes more than once in a day. I've found that if you keep making better and better drawings/photos/video/audio, you'll keep up with the competition. Make sure you're enjoying doing it, however. Oh, and you don't need Adobe'$ Cloud or the latest hardware to be creative, by the way.

I agree. I believe "Common" stock or reality Images outsells everything else . Also a bazillion Images added this week is a promotional tool, for the Stock market and investors to think "Im going with the biggest and the one with the most Images" regardless of what that does to individual Submitters. Why they need a million tomatoes ETC, is beyond any comprehension I have. We are buried in 30 Minutes. #1 issue But.....The search...That mysterious thing, "The search" why do my Oldest Images sell better and much more frequently. That is a huge Issue and really makes me think about why do I upload. Because those too will be old images soon? Probably. This whole thing is off Kilter. IMHO. And why have other Licenses OD,EL,SOD dropped Big time. Those are what makes a month at least for me. Subs don't get it done for me. regardless of How many.

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Author Topic: 48000000 images (Read 34063 times)

Semmick Photo

bunhill

Uncle Pete

Ariene

Semmick Photo

Red Dove

cobalt

Semmick Photo

Snow

Snow

KnowYourOnions

ShadySue

Semmick Photo

Semmick Photo

Uncle Pete

No Free Lunch

Snow

Red Dove

Semmick Photo

Snow

Nikovsk

BrianM

gbalex

Tryingmybest

Rinderart

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